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This post shares the product design feedback I received from real user testing—
specifically from my 71-year-old mom, who became my most honest beta tester.
The product design feedback revealed 3 critical insights that transformed how
I approach assessment tool design.
Inspired product features from my 71 year-old mom
I went on a week-long trip with my mom to NYC. I got to see Lion King (sit in the aisle) on Broadway AND my favorite musical, Hadestown (yes, it’s still my favorite after seeing Lion King). And we saw Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden.
Read for free here.
The entire time I talked about this fight, she threw out questions:
- “Do you really want to watch it if the seats aren’t good?”
- “Why would you want to see a fight if you don’t know the fighters?”
- “You can watch that on Netflix.”
Can you believe it? She really tried “We have Madison Square Garden at home” on me. Funny enough, the fight ended up being her favorite part.
The Train Ride That Improved My Design
We rode the train down from NYC to Delaware to visit my grandma. When I was younger, we would take the train from ABQ to Pennsylvania to visit—it was a two-day trip. TWO (count ’em) DAYS. Plural. Technically, 1 day and 23 hours, if the train wasn’t late or delayed (if memory serves me right, it’s always late). This time around, the train ride was 2 hours (I refused to go any longer).
My mom is worried about me being unemployed (GIRL, SAME), so I showed her the product I’m building (which bloomed from the AI journal I created). She doesn’t quite understand AI, but she wanted to use it.
“I just want to see what it says.”
I walked her through the questions on my change assessment.
Context: She retired a few years ago and currently takes on tax clients for income. However, she’s trying to get revenue share through training another person and sharing her clients instead of doing all the work herself. Perfect use case.
When Your Mom Becomes Your Honest Beta Tester
She wanted to see what would come up for her and as she started to talk, I wrote down her response. I began to copy and paste these in a separate doc in case we lost internet connection. And lo-and-behold, I got caught up in the excitement, stopped copying, and lost connection. I had missing information from 2 of the assessment questions.
We ran the report anyway.
Her reaction? She was actually impressed by the responses. This is coming from someone who always has an opinion, will always tell me what’s wrong with something, or will always tell me when there’s a better way of doing things. I think she might have worked in process improvement in a past life. If not, she missed her calling.
She said she’d try a few of the recommendations (though some of them were things she’d already been thinking about, which was validating for her. I think she liked that.).
The Real-Time Product Feedback I Didn’t Expect
When she went through the first strategy, she said: “No, that’s out. Remember when I said I can’t find anyone else?” (I didn’t write that down in the report).
She looked through the second and third strategy and started pointing to options, “No, no, yes I could try that.”
I explained that some of the strategies had pain points she already mentioned because I didn’t catch everything in her responses. A few times I had to say, “Whoops, I didn’t write that down.” She was understanding, nodded and said, “Yeah, but it’s cool that it gives you different strategies, you know?”
She was putting together bits and pieces from the different strategies that she’d want to try.
Unexpected Product Insights From a 71 Year-Old
Writing down her responses, and helping her go through the questions helped me think through other ways to improve the assessment:
Voice-first design matters. My mom likes to think out loud and when I missed details, I was bummed that it didn’t get them into the report. I also noticed on our trip that she uses talk-to-text in about everything, including accessing her phone’s flashlight. Adding talk-to-text would be a natural fit, and it made me wonder, “How many people really want to type out their responses / reflections?” I thought back to a few other people who helped beta test— a friend who listens to audiobooks, friend who wrote shorter responses, and a CEO who mentioned some voice tools.
This product design feedback highlighted how voice-first experiences matter for accessibility and user preference. The product design feedback suggested that many users prefer speaking rather than typing their responses.
Accessibility is universal design. It made me think through what it might look like for a screen reader to go through this, and other accessibility options that would benefit everyone. I increased the font size throughout the assessment form and will be testing how this reads with screen reader apps.
The product design feedback about accessibility reinforced that accessible design benefits everyone. This product design feedback shifted how I think about inclusive design.
Question clarity is everything. Hearing how she responded or interpreted questions showed me where I might need to adjust language or add clarifications in my assessment.
Strategy flexibility is key. Watching her cherry-pick elements from different strategies showed me how people might use the report. Instead of selecting from one strategy, they might cherry pick from multiple strategies. This might influence how the report is designed or even inform the “how-to” guide people receive when they get their report.
The Trait That Built This Product
My mom always has an opinion — always has a thought and is perceptive. I get that from her; and it’s probably the reason I was able to build this product.
Watching and listening to others is a skill I’ve used as a learning designer — this quality has shown me different perspectives and impacted design capabilities. This time though, it felt different because now I’m thinking about product design. Same thought process, different tools — I had to think about how to build in technological capabilities. I had a moment of doubt and thought, “Oh no, can I even add this functionality?”
Collecting product design feedback directly from users is different from designing in isolation. This product design feedback process showed me that listening is the most critical design skill.
The Real Validation
The best part about this MUCH SHORTER nostalgic train ride was not only showing my mom what I built; but her unknowingly helping me build a better product. It’s made me wonder how I might help her with her legacy clients as she shifts into retirement. I might use my product to come up with a solution (Also, I’m an instructional designer by trade, so maybe there’s something there in building courses).
What’s Next
I added talk-to-text functionality to the assessment. I’m revisiting each question and will be refining as I learn more from others. I’m shifting the report structure around.
The product design feedback from this user testing session will continue shaping the assessment tool. I’m grateful for product design feedback that comes from genuine user experience rather than assumptions.
But mostly, I’m remembering that the best user research happens when you get to sit with someone you know, listen and watch how they experience what you’ve built. The best feedback I’ve used to build has come from a car ride, a country two-step class, and now, a train ride.